Polish cavalry brigade order of battle in 1939
Encyclopedia
The following is a standard order of battle
of the Polish cavalry
brigade
in 1939.
Order of battle
In modern use, the order of battle is the identification, command structure, strength, and disposition of personnel, equipment, and units of an armed force participating in field operations. Various abbreviations are in use, including OOB, O/B, or OB, while ORBAT remains the most common in the...
of the Polish cavalry
Polish cavalry
The Polish cavalry can trace its origins back to the days of Medieval mounted knights. Poland had always been a country of flatlands and fields and mounted forces operate well in this environment...
brigade
Brigade
A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of two to five battalions, plus supporting elements depending on the era and nationality of a given army and could be perceived as an enlarged/reinforced regiment...
in 1939.
Chain of command
| Sub-unit | C/O | squadron-sized | platoon-sized | smaller units | |
| commanding officer Commanding officer The commanding officer is the officer in command of a military unit. Typically, the commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitude to run the unit as he sees fit, within the bounds of military law... |
Staff and headquarters Headquarters Headquarters denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top of a corporation taking full responsibility managing all business activities... |
deputy commanding officer chief military judge chaplain Chaplain Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel... |
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| chief of staff | operational officer intelligence officer |
military police platoon |
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| chief communications officer | communication squadron | ||||
| chief commander of the tabors | tabor's workshop 2 commands of march columns |
3 columns each |
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| quartermaster Quartermaster Quartermaster refers to two different military occupations depending on if the assigned unit is land based or naval.In land armies, especially US units, it is a term referring to either an individual soldier or a unit who specializes in distributing supplies and provisions to troops. The senior... |
transport officer armament officer chief steward officer chief doctor chief veterinarian |
artillery park unit steward park unit medical platoon veterinary platoon |
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| Headquarters Headquarters Headquarters denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top of a corporation taking full responsibility managing all business activities... commander |
staff squadron | ||||
| Commander's units | bicycle squadron (recce/liaison) engineering squadron |
HMG Heavy machine gun The heavy machine gun or HMG is a larger class of machine gun generally recognized to refer to two separate stages of machine gun development. The term was originally used to refer to the early generation of machine guns which came into widespread use in World War I... platoon |
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| cavalry regiment 3 or 4 in each brigade |
regiment commander | line squadrons - 4 in each regiment |
cavalry platoon - 3 in each squadron |
3 sections (6 soldiers each) LMG Light machine gun A light machine gun is a machine gun designed to be employed by an individual soldier, with or without an assistant, as an infantry support weapon. Light machine guns are often used as squad automatic weapons.-Characteristics:... section (5 soldiers) squadron commanders troop |
|
| LMG Light machine gun A light machine gun is a machine gun designed to be employed by an individual soldier, with or without an assistant, as an infantry support weapon. Light machine guns are often used as squad automatic weapons.-Characteristics:... section administration unit |
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| HMG Heavy machine gun The heavy machine gun or HMG is a larger class of machine gun generally recognized to refer to two separate stages of machine gun development. The term was originally used to refer to the early generation of machine guns which came into widespread use in World War I... squadron maintenance squadron |
3 HMG platoons |
4 HMG each |
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| AT platoon bicycle platoon communications platoon |
engineering squad |
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| Mounted Artillery Unit (DAK) | DAK commander | munitions supply column |
75 mm artillery battery 3 or 4 guns each |
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| communications platoon | |||||
| Organic Armoured Unit | commander | tankette squadron armoured car squadron |
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| Organic Rifle Battalion | Rifles battalion | ||||
Composition and armament
The following is a list of all equipment, armament, men and means of transport in use by a cavalry regiment and a cavalry brigade of the Polish Army, as of 1939. The figures for brigades are based on official Polish Army instructions prepared in late 1930s. The numbers in brackets give the figures for a four-regiment brigade, as opposed to the standard three-regiment one. The figures for the regiments are given after the actual mobilisation report of September 1, 1939, of the 25th Greater Polish Uhlans Regiment. Note that the numbers for other units may vary, mostly due to different mobilisation schedules and other problems.| Regiment | Brigade | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General | |||||||||||||
| officers | 36 | 232 (373) | |||||||||||
| privates and NCOs | 838 | 5 911 (6 911) | |||||||||||
| horses Cavalry horses Pack horses Cart-horses Total |
616 43 221 920 |
5 194 (6 291) |
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| Vehicles | |||||||||||||
| cars | 1 | 65 (66) | |||||||||||
| motorcycles | 1 | ||||||||||||
| field kitchen Field kitchen Field kitchen is a mobile kitchen, mobile canteens or food truck used primarily by military services to provide warm food to the troops near the frontline or in temporary encampments.-Form:... s |
6 | ||||||||||||
| tabor carts | 86 | ||||||||||||
| chaplain Chaplain Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel... s cart |
1 | 4 | |||||||||||
| taczanka Tachanka The tachanka was a horse-drawn machine gun platform, usually a cart or an open wagon with a heavy machine gun installed in the back. A tachanka could be pulled by two to four horses and required a crew of two or three... wz.28 or wz.36 |
13 | ||||||||||||
| bicycle Bicycle A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist.... s |
36 | ||||||||||||
| Armament | |||||||||||||
| Vis Vis (weapon) Vis is a 9 mm caliber, single-action, semi-automatic pistol... pistols |
133 | ||||||||||||
| sabres Szabla Szabla is the Polish word for sabre. It specifically refers to an Eastern European one-edged sabre-like mêlée weapon with a curved blade and, in most cases, a two-bladed tip called a feather . Initially used by light cavalry, with time it also evolved into a variety of arms used both for martial... |
616 | ||||||||||||
| lance Lance A Lance is a pole weapon or spear designed to be used by a mounted warrior. The lance is longer, stout and heavier than an infantry spear, and unsuited for throwing, or for rapid thrusting. Lances did not have tips designed to intentionally break off or bend, unlike many throwing weapons of the... s |
108 | ||||||||||||
| rifles Mannlicher 1898, Kbk wz. 1929, Kb wz. 98a, Mosin wz. 91/98/25, Mosin wz. 91/98/23 or Steyr-Mannlicher M1895 Steyr-Mannlicher M1895 The Steyr-Mannlicher M1895 rifle is a bolt-action rifle, designed by Ferdinand Ritter von Mannlicher that used a refined version of his revolutionary straight-pull action. It was nicknamed the "Ruck-Zuck" by Landsers... |
740 | 5000 | |||||||||||
| 7,92 mm karabin ppanc. wz 35 AT rifle | 12 | 51 (64) | |||||||||||
| rkm Browning wz. 28 Browning wz.1928 The Browning wz.1928 is a Polish version of the M1918 BAR. It was a light machine gun used by the Poles in World War II.-History:After Poland regained its independence in 1918, the Polish Army was equipped in all sorts of machine guns inherited after the armed forces of the partitioners, as well as... LMG Light machine gun A light machine gun is a machine gun designed to be employed by an individual soldier, with or without an assistant, as an infantry support weapon. Light machine guns are often used as squad automatic weapons.-Characteristics:... |
18 | 89 (107) | |||||||||||
| Maxim 08/15 Maschinengewehr 08 The Maschinengewehr 08, or MG08, was the German Army's standard machine gun in World War I and is an adoption of Hiram S. Maxim's original 1884 Maxim Gun. It was produced in a number of variants during the war. The MG 08 remained in service until the outbreak of World War II due to shortages of... and lkm wz. 08/18 Maschinengewehr 08 The Maschinengewehr 08, or MG08, was the German Army's standard machine gun in World War I and is an adoption of Hiram S. Maxim's original 1884 Maxim Gun. It was produced in a number of variants during the war. The MG 08 remained in service until the outbreak of World War II due to shortages of... MG Machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute.... s |
10 (12) | ||||||||||||
| Ckm wz.30 Ckm wz.30 Ckm wz.30 is a Polish-made clone of the American Browning M1917 heavy machine gun... HMG HMG HMG may refer to:* Heavy machine gun* Her Majesty's Government is the formal title for the British Government. If a the monarch is a king, the title changes to "His Majesty's Government"... |
12 | 52 (64) | |||||||||||
| Organic artillery | |||||||||||||
| grenade launchers wz. 1930 and wz. 1936 | 9 (9) | ||||||||||||
| 81mm mortar | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 75 mm armata wz. 02/26 field gun | 12 (16) | ||||||||||||
| 40 mm armata plot. wz. 36 AA gun | 2 (2) | ||||||||||||
| 37 mm Armata ppanc. wz. 36 AT gun | 4 | 14 (18) | |||||||||||
| Organic armoured unit | |||||||||||||
| wz. 34 Samochód pancerny wz. 34 Samochód pancerny wz. 34 , was a standard light armored car used by the Polish Army during the September Campaign of 1939.The vehicle was based on the earlier half track samochód pancerny wz. 28, which entered service in 1928... or wz.29 armoured car |
8 | ||||||||||||
| reconnaissance tankette Tankette A tankette is a tracked combat vehicle resembling a small tank roughly the size of a car, mainly intended for light infantry support or reconnaissance. Colloquially it may also simply mean a "small tank".... TKS TKS The TK and TKS were Polish tankettes during the Second World War.-Design and development:The TK tankette was a Polish design produced from 1931 that was based upon an improved chassis of the British Carden Loyd tankette. The TKS was an improved model with a new hull and a more powerful engine... or TK-3 |
13 | ||||||||||||
Cavalry
- Krakowska Brygada Kawalerii (KrakówKrakówKraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
) - under Brigadier General Zygmunt Piasecki - Kresowa Brygada Kawalerii (BrodyBrodyBrody is a city in the Lviv Oblast of western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Brody Raion , and is located in the valley of the upper Styr River, approximately 90 kilometres northeast of the oblast capital, Lviv...
) - under Colonel Stefan Hanka-Kulesza - Mazowiecka Brygada Kawalerii (WarsawWarsawWarsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
) under Colonel Jan KarczJan KarczJan Karcz was a Polish Army Colonel, posthumously promoted to the rank of a Brigadier General.During the Second World War he was murdered in the German concentration camp Auschwitz.... - Nowogródzka Brygada Kawalerii (Baranowicze) under Brigadier General Władysław Anders
- Podlaska Brygada Kawalerii (Białystok) under Brigadier General Ludwik Kmicic-Skrzyński
- Podolska Brygada Kawalerii (StanisławówIvano-FrankivskIvano-Frankivsk is a historic city located in the western Ukraine. It is the administrative centre of the Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast , and is designated as its own separate raion within the oblast, municipality....
) under Colonel Leon Strzelecki - Pomorska Brygada Kawalerii (Bydgoszcz) under Colonel Adam Zakrzewski
- Suwalska Cavalry BrigadeSuwalska Cavalry BrigadeSuwalska Cavalry Brigade was a cavalry unit of the Polish Army in the interbellum period. It was created on April 1, 1937 out of the 4th Independent Cavalry Brigade...
(Suwałki) under Brigadier General Zygmunt Podhorski - Wielkopolska Brygada Kawalerii (PoznańPoznanPoznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
) under Brigadier General Roman AbrahamRoman AbrahamRoman Abraham was a Polish cavalry general, commander of Wielkopolska Cavalry Brigade during German and Soviet Invasion of Poland in September 1939, in Battle of Bzura commander of Polish cavalry .... - Wileńska Brygada Kawalerii (Wilno) under Colonel Konstanty Drucki-Lubecki
- Wołyńska Brygada Kawalerii (RówneRówneRówne may refer to:*Polish name for Rivne in Ukraine*Równe, Masovian Voivodeship *Równe, Opole Voivodeship *Równe, Pomeranian Voivodeship *Równe, Subcarpathian Voivodeship...
) under Colonel Julian Filipowicz - Brygada Rezerwowa Kawalerii Wolkowysk (Białystok, Wołkowysk) under Colonel Edmund Tarnasiewicz-Heldut
- Zbiorcza Brygada Kawalerii (WarsawWarsawWarsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
) under General Roman AbrahamRoman AbrahamRoman Abraham was a Polish cavalry general, commander of Wielkopolska Cavalry Brigade during German and Soviet Invasion of Poland in September 1939, in Battle of Bzura commander of Polish cavalry ....
Armoured-Motorised Brigades
-
- Different armament and structure
- 10. Brygada Kawalerii Zmotoryzowanej (RzeszówRzeszówRzeszów is a city in southeastern Poland with a population of 179,455 in 2010. It is located on both sides of the Wisłok River, in the heartland of the Sandomierska Valley...
) - dowódca: płk dypl. Stanisław Maczek - Warszawska Brygada Pancerno-Motorowa (WarsawWarsawWarsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
) - dowódca: płk dypl. Stefan RoweckiStefan RoweckiStefan Paweł Rowecki was a Polish general, journalist and the leader of the Armia Krajowa. He was murdered by the Gestapo in prison, probably on the direct order of Heinrich Himmler.-Life:Rowecki was born in Piotrków Trybunalski...
- 10. Brygada Kawalerii Zmotoryzowanej (Rzeszów
- Different armament and structure
See also
- Polish cavalryPolish cavalryThe Polish cavalry can trace its origins back to the days of Medieval mounted knights. Poland had always been a country of flatlands and fields and mounted forces operate well in this environment...
- Polish army
- Polish Defensive WarInvasion of Poland (1939)The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II in Europe...
of 1939